I have been coding games for a while now in c++, but have never been there from the beginning. I want to create a rpg from scratch and I need to know what I should do first.
There are 2 other people helping me, but they have limited knowledge about designing games.

I have alot of books about designing games, but none of them tell you what you should do before you just jump right in.

I am just a little confused about the beginning steps of this process.

Should I design the storyline and then worry about the rest later or what???

There's an infinite number of processes you could use to start and manage a game project. The key is to find one that works for you and your team. It might be advisable to design and implement a much smaller-scale, lower-risk game project (like, say, breakout) from start to finish, simply as an exercise to try out a process and work out the kinks in it, before doing the full-blown RPG. If you've done that at least once and understand what it takes, it'll be a lot less to worry about simultaneously as you work on writing a larger-scale game like an RPG.

There's really no replacement for real-world experience. It's remarkably difficult to get a feel for the scope of a project if you haven't implemented anything like it before. So, starting with a project you know is absolutely simple and trivial, then finding out exactly how simple and trivial it isn't, is likely to be far more helpful in scoping and design than any amount of reading or theory.

codeman87 Wrote:Should I design the storyline and then worry about the rest later or what???

First of all, this statement would seem to suggest to me, that while you may have some experience with C/C++, you have little or no experience with any type of basic game or grahpics programming.

Trying to create a game without any experience in game programming first, is like trying to build a house, when you only know how to lay carpet and do drywall. It
's not going to work.

What I would suggest however, is to find simple source code examples of things such as moving sprites around the screen, rendering simple geometry, and study the code until you completely understand all of it, and then try to make your own implementation of it. Just keep making little programs based on what your learning, and as you progress, your programs will become more advance and start to resemble actual games.(This is all based on the assumption that you know close to nothing about game or grahpics programming).

codeman87 Wrote:I am just a little confused about the beginning steps of this process.

Should I design the storyline and then worry about the rest later or what???

If you think you've got the coding skills down, then some ideas:

1) Read all Ernest Adams game design columns on Gamasutra.
2) Read Richard Rouses's book "Game Design: Theory and Practice". (Or Ernest Adams' book for that matter.) They talk about everything from inspiration & research to design documents, marketing pitches, and other stuff. Soup-to-nuts.
3) Read articles about how Blizzard makes games. A lot of people subscribe to their philosophy, though it takes a lot of time. Get a prototype up and running quickly, then make it more and more fun. Ruthlessly throw out your favorite ideas if they aren't fun or start to seem like they belong in a different game. For an rpg, this might mean tuning the interface, combat systems, and character skills. Maybe start by designing a mini-rpg, one that you think you and your pals can implement in about 3 months. Use that as a prototype for the bigger one, or to decide to make fundemental changes to the project.

Random thoughts:
- One rookie mistake is to get too carried away with making the engine elegant.
- If you are the programmer and there are two artists/level designers, time spent making it easy for them to add new art/levels and seeing the results quickly (without rebuilding, if possible) is time well-spent.

Like others, I am wondering at your choice of RPG. Do you even have a theme in mind for the game yet? Do you just like RPGs, or do you have some unique angle you want to explore?